Spring 2012 Preview!

Without further ado, welcome to the first collaborative edition of the Random Curiosity season preview, now featuring more writers for you to love and adore than ever. (Please don’t stalk us too much though.) As you all probably know, Divine, our season preview writer/extraordinaire, is taking an indefinite hiatus so he has passed on the baton to the rest of us writers – and just in time for the spring preview too, which is generally one of the busiest seasons with 50 new shows and counting. As is standard fare, we have the usual batch of hotly anticipated sequels to recent shows such as Fate/Zero 2nd Season, Kimi to Boku 2, and Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? OF THE DEAD, but there are also sequels and spiritual successors to venerated older shows as well like Eureka Seven Astral Ocean, the return of the Saint Seiya franchise after 25 years, and the reunion of Cowboy Bebop’s director and composer for a new show after over ten. So dust off that TV, free up some hard drive space, or do whatever else it is you do to get ready, because this season looks highly promising. Long-awaited sequels, a diversity of genres, and a nice balance of original works and manga/light novel adaptations have filled the slate with many shows that merit more than just a passing glance, and made this is a season one where even the pickiest of viewers should be able to find something to enjoy.

As a quick reminder, each entry is divided into two paragraphs:

A brief introduction to the series and its premise, often with the starring cast.

The writer’s impressions, expanding on the plot and highlighting specific points of interest.

The overall impressions at the very end categorize the shows in a way that should help you decide what to watch.

Disclaimer: Past season previews were done by a single writer, so while regular readers were probably very familiar with the shows that Divine liked to watch, this new collaborative season preview features many new writers whose tastes you might not yet know very well. That said, we hope this will translate into a more diverse set of perspectives while allowing us to remain objective enough to provide informed judgements on new shows and write a preview that is true to the style and tradition of past season previews. Similar to what Divine did in the past, we will also try to identify what appeals to us in each series, in hopes it will help you determine if it coincides with your tastes.

By no means does this list reflect every single anime series that is going to air, though it’s meant to be as comprehensive as possible. Shows that stray far from the anime norm or are deemed oriented towards younger children are omitted, so check out MOON PHASE for a complete listing, syoboi’s calendar for specific air times, and Fansub Wiki’s page for a tentative look on who’s subbing what.

TV Series

Technical Note: The list is ordered by the date and time that the shows premiere. The links in the schedule will take you to a series’ corresponding entry and the “Top” links on the right will bring you back. You can also use the back/forward buttons in your browser to jump between links you’ve clicked. All times are given in a 24-hour, relative-day format where times are extended to show which day they belong to. For instance, Friday morning at 1:30AM would become Thursday at 25:30 to show that the episode aired late Thursday night.

This spring, Marvy Jack brings us Koiken!, an anime based on a popular dating simulation game that’s hosted by DeNA‘s social networking site Mobage. This show’s been airing for a while now so you may wonder why you haven’t seen anything related to it. That’s because it’s a mobile ONA – a show that airs on a mobile network in Japan. As far as I know, people in Japan watch this on cell phones.

Dating simulation games are pretty well-known so it’s easy to understand what’s going on. The show also has a relatively well-known cast with stars like Tomatsu Haruka, Inoue Kikuko, Toyosaki Aki and Kugimiya Rie! Unfortunately, I don’t know if this show will be available through anything else besides mobile networks, so you probably won’t be able to watch this one (at least for now).

The first show of the spring season this year is LandQ studios‘ Ozuma, based on an unpublished work by Matsumoto Leiji who’s known for his various space-related works. The story is set in the distant future where the elevated radiation from the sun has destroyed the environment on Earth, covering the planet in sand and drastically decreasing the birthrate of humans. One day, Sam Coin (Kakihara Tetsuya) – a trader of the desert in search of Ozuma, an enemy of his brother – saves a woman named Maya (Tanaka Rie) from her “Ideal Children” pursuers, an army of cloned soldiers named used by the government to control society.

I must admit, I had no idea who Matsumoto Leiji was before writing this post so I can’t say anything regarding his other works. This show seems interesting and relatively short, but I don’t know if I’ll watch it or not. The first episode of Ozuma has aired already, as this preview is a tad late. I haven’t given it a shot yet but I intend to very soon. However, I have watched the opening for the anime and it was quite interesting because while the regular Japanese broadcast had a Japanese song, the Crunchyroll stream had the same song in English – both performed by the same band. Other than that, this show has a pretty “old” style compared to the modern works we’re more familar with today. The artwork, the theme, basically everything else about this show is nostalgic. This might just be the most unique offering this season.

We’re all used to seeing battles fought with swords, but what about the most common “fights” in the world – debates? This spring season offers us a rare of a short comedy that takes place in a school with a girl named Rareko (Kawashou Miyuki). Rareko is known for starting enthusiastic yet absurd debates that result in a very lively classroom life. These debates take obscure topics and blow them out of proportion, and the arguments are exchanged like strokes from swords. Gakkatsu will air on weekdays every night in short five-minute episodes.

This kind of comedy can be fun. I always enjoy watching a good debate, no matter what form it’s presented in. I might give this a chance as it seems odd enough to catch my attention. It’s relatively short too, so I can fit it anytime into my schedule. I have no idea what the topics will be brought up and I have no real expectations. This show will probably be a fun pastime for me but who knows? It might be really funny! And it’ll be really nice to see Kawashou Miyuki in action again. I really enjoyed her voicing Drossel from Fireball.

Twenty-five years later, the Saint Seiya franchise returns with a brand new series featuring an original story and a new cast of characters. Like Aquarion EVOL, this is a story that takes place some time after its prequel and doesn’t require the audience to have any prior knowledge about it. The story centers on the reincarnated goddess Athena who lives on Earth accompanied by her Saints: Pegasus Kouga (Midorikawa Hikaru), Orion Eden (Suwabe Junichi), Wolf Haruto (Suzuki Tatsuhisa), Aquila Yuna (Yukino Satsuki), Dragon Ryuuhou (Kakihara Tetsuya) and Lionet Souma (Konishi Katsuyuki). Together they’re fulfilling Athena’s duty of protecting peace on Earth.

I knew of Saint Seiya but I’ve never seen anything related to the franchise. It’s pretty interesting to see an old series in a new, modernized version; however, the artwork still has its old touch from the prequels. This is not something that appeals to me and I know I won’t be watching it but I’m pretty sure a lot of anime fans are feeling nostalgic and looking forward to this “old school” classic shounen.

The adaptation of Koyama Chuuya’s award-winning seinen manga features two protagonists – brothers, who as children, made a vow to become astronauts after a fateful summer day when they saw a UFO streaking towards the moon. Flash-forward to 2025 and Namba Hibito (Kenn), the younger brother who has always been blessed with good luck, has kept his end of their promise as he is part of the first NASA mission sending people to live on the moon. His elder brother Namba Mutto (Hirata Hiroaki) on the other hand, has always been plagued by bad luck and never able to fulfill his aspirations. He’s currently unemployed after being fired from a successful job as a car designer; however, his luck begins to change after an inspirational message from Hibito, spurring him to try and become an astronaut and live up to his motto that “The older brother should always be ahead of the younger one.”

When I was a youngster, I too dreamed of becoming an astronaut, so this series speaks directly to my heart. To boldly go where only approximately 530 people have ever been is both romantic and adventurous, and the journey Mutto takes to become an astronaut in Uchuu Kyoudai embodies both of these traits very well. This tale of one man’s personal development while on the road to following his dreams is a heartwarming one with many themes that can be easily identified with. The well-done character development in combination with insights into the rigorous astronaut selection and training process reminds some of the underappreciated series Planetes, and could make for a series that becomes the sleeper hit of the season.

Adapting Japanese folklore, myth, legend and festival origin stories into a series of original anime episodes narrated by Emoto Akira and Matsukane Yoneko, Furusato Saisei could prove an interesting anime for those who want to learn more about Japan’s cultural background. The first of these stories will tell the tale of an honest elderly couple who receive a mysterious dog; this dog grants the couple good fortune, garnering the avarice of their neighbours who then proceed to steal it.

Studio DEEN brings us an anime adaption of the PS2 otome game Hiiro no Kakera this season. This reverse harem show, targeted towards the female audience centers around our main protagonist, Kasuga Tamaki (Miyake Marie), who returns to a village that reminds her of her childhood, oblivious to the supernatural danger surrounding it. She soon becomes involved in a world previously unknown to her and the only help she can get comes in the form of five bishounen guardians: Onizaki Takuma (Sugita Tomokazu), Atori Mahiro (Okano Kousuke), Komura Yuuichi (Namikawa Daisuke), Inukai Shinji (Shimowada Hiroki) and Oomi Suguru (Hirakawa Daisuke).

These kinds of shows tick me off because they’re filled with clichés, always ending with the heroine not choosing anyone at all. For some odd reason however, I always get stuck watching these and hoping for the best. Having already seen the first pre-aired episode and found it quite interesting, I intend to continue watching this show. Some of you may recognize the artwork and that’s because this show has the same character designer (Kazuki Yone) as Hakuouki. Another thing that has me hooked on this show is the wonderful cast it has assembled. So if you’re looking for a reverse harem featuring bishounen designs, played by an all-star interesting cast – this is your show!

The trend of comedy shows about the daily lives of students doesn’t show signs of letting up anytime soon. An adaptation of Uzu’s 4-koma manga, Shiba Inuko-san is slated for 2-minute episodes featuring the lives of middle school students. The titutlar character, Shiba Inuko (Sasaki Mikoi), looks like a Shiba Inu dog, but everyone appears to treat her like an ordinary 14 year-old girl except her best friend Ishibashi Chako. However, in order to maintain their friendship, Chako never voices her doubts to her friend.

There doesn’t seem to be any translations of the manga yet so I can’t say for certain what the tone of the show will be, but from a premise like this coupled with the limitations of brief episodes, I would bet on this series consisting of short bursts of humor with heartwarming moments sprinkled throughout. So if you’re looking for a quick laugh or d’aww to brighten your day, this could be your ticket.

Queen’s Blade: Rebellion is a sequel to the second season of Queen’s Blade. It is set four years after and revolves around Annelotte (Endou Aya). She leads the Rebel Army to overthrow Claudette, the tyrannical queen. This sequel features a new cast while keeping some of the original characters. For those of you who don’t know, “Queen’s Blade” is a tournament held every four years to decide who gets to be the next queen.

I remember watching a couple episodes of this franchise and found it was filled with ecchi. This series reminds me of SEKIREI in that it features women fighting in a tournament who, when they get injured, their clothes slowly start disappearing due to fighting. What differentiates Queen’s Blade from SEKIREI is that the latter is seemingly mild by comparison. For those who can look past the heavy fanservice, there should still be a compelling fantasy story worth checking out.

Enter Gon, the egocentric dinosaur. He may not have many words to say, but he’ll sure bite you in order to get his point across. In fact, this is how the manga plays out: no dialogue, just beautifully drawn and emotional artwork that drives the plot. Although Gon ends up coming off as a self-centered ass for the majority of the story, he ends up doing many kind things in his own misunderstood way.

It is unlikely that this unique feature of GON will translate into the anime adaptation. TV Tokyo has already laid out their full cast of seiyuu, including Kusao Takeshi (Trunks from DBZ) and Horiuchi Kenyuu (Tomoro from Twin Spica). In addition, the art style is a steep contrast from the ultra-detailed realistic approach of the manga. This adaptation will most likely take an entirely different approach to the concept and appeal to a different demographic, but maybe Korean animation studio Daewon Media’s first foray into the Japanese market will surprise.

The sequel to Kimi to Boku (which finished its first run two seasons ago) is finally making its triumphant return this spring! For those out of the loop, “You and I” follows the daily lives of four childhood friends — twin brothers Asaba Yuuta (Uchiyama Kouki) and Yuuki (Kimura Ryouhei), perfectionist Tsukahara Kaname (Ono Yuuki), the fluffy Matsuoka Shun (Toyonaga Toshiyuki) — and their half-German transfer student Tachibana Chizuru (Irino Miyu), who met Yuuki years ago during an earlier trip to Japan.

If you’re on the fence about picking up Kimi to Boku 2, give it a chance!. With J.C. Staff taking the reins again, I fully believe that they’ll be able to build and improve on what they delivered two seasons ago. With the slow character introductions out of the way and a few recurring plot points that are sure to keep us entertained (like the love-hate relationship between Chizuru and Masaki), I’m certain that Kimi to Boku will at least be enjoyable.

Yurumates 3D is based on a 4-koma comedy manga. Aida Yurume (Momoi Haruko) wants to make it to a university in Tokyo, but in order to fulfill that goal, she moves from the countryside to an apartment in Tokyo to attend cram school. At her new home, she meets her odd bunch of neighbors, Kawana Sae (Kuwatani Natsuko), Matsukichi (Hino Satoshi), and Tanaka Kumi (Matsuki Miyu), who are all in the same position as her.

I wasn’t very impressed by the actual 4-koma version. All of the gags came off extremely awkward. That being said, I moved onto the first OVA that was released back in 2009 to investigate further. Since it was animated, the gag delivery was a lot better even though the jokes themselves were still hit or miss. It’s also being animated by a relatively less known company, who helped work on bigger name productions such as Amagami SS, BakaTest, and STAR DRIVER. Although I have low expectations for this show, I hope it turns out better than what I’ve seen thus far.

For those of you looking for a dark and brutal series this spring, the adaptation of Katsura Masakazu’s manga will probably fit your bill. In their efforts to create the perfect artificial human, the Amagi Corporation ends up creating monstrous abominations instead, dubbed “Players”. These Players, who were basically used and mistreated by their creators, eventually become self-aware, perceive themselves to be superior to humans, and go on murderous rampages. And thus, the role of protecting mankind from the Players falls on the two rival heroes of the series: ZET and Alphas. The series begins with the backstories for each hero: Kanzaki Jin (Namikawa Daisuke), who transforms into the superhuman ZET form, and Amagi Kouga (Miyano Mamoru), who has a strong sense of justice and fights Players as the hero Alphas, despite being the grandson of the Amagi Corporation founder.

While the premise is grim, the manga (at least the first ten chapters or so) actually manages to blend in just enough humor and lighthearted moments to keep the whole thing from being overly dark and depressing – which when combined with the meticulously drawn scenes, made it a very engaging read. Hopefully many of these elements will transfer over to the animated adaptation as well, and it’ll be especially interesting to see if TMS Entertainment will be able to translate the more realistic character designs and parkour-like combat onto the screen. In an age that is sadly devoid of brutal violence and badass protagonists, ZETMAN is a very promising breath of fresh air this spring season.

With Bleach reaching its end, Studio Pierrot brings us a Naruto spin-off centering on Rock Lee (Masukawa Youichi) to take over Bleach’s timeslot. Not much is known about this show, but as far as I can tell it’s a parody about Rock Lee’s everyday life and struggles. The main stars of the show are Rock Lee’s teammates Neji (Toochika Kouichi) and Tenten (Yukari Tamura), but Naruto (Takeuchi Junko) himself is also listed as a main character.

This might seem filler-related but believe me, it’s not. There is a spin-off manga with the same title for those of you who’re interested. I’m not very fond of Rock Lee but he does have his funny moments. I doubt this will have any serious plot like Naruto has, so if you want to watch something light yet shounen, this is your show. Based on the images I’ve seen, it appears Rock Lee takes place in the same time frame as Naruto: Shippuuden, so you probably shouldn’t watch this before watching that or you might not be able to understand what is going on.

As part of the Dai! Tensai Telebi-kun program, Dumomo to Nupepe is an adaptation of Rumparo Tita’s debut children’s manga in the form of 5-minute shorts that tell the story of a pair of unlikely friends. The anime starts with from the meeting of Dumomo (Midorikawa Hikaru) – who likes to seclude himself in his own world – and the meek and simple-minded Nupepe (Aizawa Mai), and depicts their antics together with various other colourful characters.

Based on a multiple award-winning series of children’s books, Arashi no Yoru ni follows the story of a pair of unlikely friends. One night, a goat named Mei (Kugumiya Rie) and a wolf named Gabu (Yoshino Hiroyuki) both take refuge in an old barn while a storm rages outside. The two begin to talk as they wait in the dark and find out they have many things in common. Soon, a friendship develops. Yet many hardships lay ahead for the two, as their friends and family would never accept a friendship between a goat and a wolf.

In an effort to give you a more informed preview, I sat down and watched the 2005 movie that was also based on this series. I originally only intended to watch for a little bit, but I actually found it really hard to force myself to stop. It reminded me of an old school Disney movie – one that seems childish and innocent on the surface, but is actually quite deep and even dark. This is a story where Mei’s mother was killed by wolves, and one which constantly deals with issues such as Gabu forcing himself to not eat his new friend, and the deaths of Mei’s people at the claws of Gabu’s pack. By the looks of it, this adaptation might be more “kid friendly” (the CG animation is a lot lighter and softer than the traditional art used in the movie), but the underlying story will be the same. That said, it’s still a children’s show, so unless you’ve got young kids who happen to understand Japanese, this one probably won’t be for you.

Apparently, this cutesy show is actually an adaptation of Ishizaki Hiroshi’s children’s novels. Each episode is 7 minutes long and depicts the struggles of the ‘cynical’ witch Chiyoko ‘Choco’ Kurotori (Orikasa Fumika) as she trains to be a black witch under her tutor, Gubid (Paku Romi).

Err, I don’t know how cynical a fifth-grade girl in a magical girl kiddy show can be, but maybe she’ll be just cynical enough to win me over. Despite all the black in the promo images, the character designs themselves are cavity-inducingly sweet, courtesy of character designer and chief animation director Ootake Masae. A cursory glance at director Yasumi Tetsuo and Ueno Kimiko’s resumes tells me both of them primarily worked on children’s shows, so Kuromajo is probably in good hands. It’s an overload of cute for 7 minutes and I’ll probably watch an episode or two for nostalgia sake and to see just how ‘cynical’ little Choco is.

Here, we have the sequel to a certain highly eclectic crazy comedy bonanza. This story follows the adventures of Aikawa Ayumu (Majima Junji), a normal high school student whose life is abruptly ended when he’s slain by a serial killer. Fortunately, that didn’t stop him from going about his business, thanks to a timely resurrection from the silent and emotionless necromancer Eucliwood Hellscythe, a.k.a. Yuu. If that wasn’t enough, Ayumu accidentally saps away the powers from a magically-equipped genius named Haruna (Nomizu Iori), and is forced to fight monsters known as Megalo in her place. Add to that a vampire ninja named Seraphim (Hikasa Youko), who wants Yuu to resurrect her clan’s leader, and a rival vampire ninja named Yoshida Yuki a.k.a. Tomonori (Kanemoto Hisako), who considers herself Ayumu’s wife after an accidental kiss, and suddenly Ayumu’s high school life is no longer anything close to normal.

One of two zombie-focused shows running this season, “Is This a Zombie?” is focused much more on comedy and is about 40x more absurd. We have zombies, magical girls, necromancers, vampire ninjas, magical world teachers, invading Megalo, serial killers, perverts, goth lolis … and are you getting overwhelmed yet? Well don’t be, because that’s not even half of what makes this show fun! Thanks to its “kitchen sink” approach to fantasy, there are always a ton of things to mine for comedy, fanservice, and occasionally plot. The first season was uneven at times, but overall, this ridiculous comedy kept me coming back week after week. With director Kanasaki Takaomi and Studio DEEN returning for the second season, and 6 more light novels full of content left to explore, I’m expecting more of the same.

Coming to you from the brain of Nisio Isin, the pen of Akatsuki Akira, and by way of Studio Gainax, here’s a new series for all you shounen fans out there. Starring the outrageously perfect Kurokami Medaka (Toyosaki Aki) and the scrappy but loyal Hitoyoshi Zenkichi (Ono Yuuki), the story starts with first year Medaka elected Student Council President with an overwhelming 98% of the votes. She immediately implements the titular “Medaka Box,” a suggestion box where any student can submit any request to the Student Council at any time – no matter what the issue is, Medaka will see it through. The only problem is that Hakoniwa Academy is anything but normal. Medaka may be perfect, but with ever more ridiculously powerful enemies constantly upping the stakes, the fate of Hakoniwa Academy is far from certain.

When I hear about a Gainax original series, I get excited. From Neon Genesis Evangelion to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann to Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Gainax’s original series are always a treat to behold, even if they tend to do funny things to your mind. Gainax adaptations on the other hand are different story entirely, and with Saeki Shouji (He is My Master, the second season of Mahoromatic) back as director, there is a bit of a cause for concern. The animation also looks a little sub-par for 2012, at least from what I’ve seen so far. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the manga. It’s a strange story, with Medaka being so seemingly overpowered that she almost qualifies as a Mary Sue, but it still manages to keep the tension and suspense alive by having all the enemies be ridiculously overpowered as well. Let me put it this way: If Nisio Isin dialogue + awesome shounen battles + over-the-top characters + the plot constantly one-upping itself sounds like a fun time to you, give this one a shot. As long as Gainax can do the source material justice, it should be good times.

This show seems very unpredictable to me, but is also one of the most interesting ones out of the bunch. I suspect this might be a rare gem this year, and I fear it may become a very underrated show. The artwork seems very shoujo/josei to me which is a big plus, and the male cast stands out too. In addition to the seiyuu voicing the main characters above, we have Morikawa Toshiyuki, Ono Daisuke, Konishi Katsuyuki and Taniyama Kishou. With a cast like this that has performed well in a variety of comedy shows, it’s hard to overlook this one!

Continuing directly from last season, the two siblings Miyagawa Atsushi (Okiayu Ryoutarou) and his 17-year-old sister Atsumi (Kugimiya Rie) continue facing the gag troubles that arise from their reversed appearances. Atsushi continues to get arrested by the police and Atsumi continues to take on the short jokes.

This season’s misunderstandings will be no different. If you laughed when Atsushi’s friends prepared boxes to take his chocolate, then you should watch the second season’s three-minute bursts. Hirano Aya will continue voicing Sayo, to the relief of fans who wish to see her career rebuild. If you haven’t seen the first season and want to catch up in time for April, the first season can be completed in about 30 minutes.

Brains Base brings us an anime adaption of Konami‘s Sengoku Collection, a social networking service game. The story takes place in the Sengoku Era, the warring states period in historical Japan when military masters circle the figurative throne of Japan’s first shogunate.

I don’t have much to write about this show because this is very new and unfamiliar to me. After some research, I managed to find some information about the game itself. In the game, there are six hidden treasures containing “God of War” cards. The military masters embark on journeys to obtain the treasures, and I’m assuming that the anime plot will stick to the original game story. As for the characters, there is very little information given about them but the cast is a notable one with seiyuus like Hanazawa Kana, Nakahara Mai and Noto Mamiko. All I have to say is – this could be anything!

High school boy meets high school girl. But this isn’t your standard romantic comedy. Sankarea follows a high school student by the name of Furuya Chihiro (Kimura Ryouhei) who is obsessed with all things undead. He meets Sanka Rea (Uchida Maaya), a popular girl from a nearby all girls high school. After overhearing her problems one night, they become friends. Together they try to resurrect Babu, Furuya’s dead cat. One things leads to another and Rea turns into a zombie!

I know this might sound similar to Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? but it isn’t. While Zombie takes a lighthearted approach, Sanakarea is much darker and it’s not entirely certain that everything will be rosy at the end of this zombie romance. It is based on an ongoing manga written by Hattori Mitsuru and I believe that this anime is probably going to be THE rom-com of the season. I’ve read 26 chapters of it and I must say that the plot is interesting and compelling. There is definitely more to the main characters than I’ve stated here so as to avoid ruining a great story.

Based off a 4-koma manga, Acchi Kocchi follows the daily (school) life of two students, Miniwa Tsumiki (Ookubo Rumi) and Otonashi Io (Okamoto Nobuhiko); the former being a tsundere who’s in denial of all romantic feeling towards Io. The latter appears to be your typical overly-nice, oblivious love interest (and from what I’ve seen, that fact isn’t going to change in the near future). Together, they are joined by classmates Haruno Hime (Fukuhara Kaori), Katase Mayoi (Nabatame Hitomi), Inui Sakaki (Asanuma Shintarou), and probably a slew of others that will become the catalyst for things to happen.

Not a lot of additional information is provided for this anime (without having to actually read the manga). I did skip through a few pages and I’m not thoroughly impressed by the plot or the characters; the story seems to reek of typical prolonged romances that go nowhere. Due to the nature of the manga though, it’s hard to develop a solid storyline and continuity between chapters. It’s not meant to be taken seriously but rather as a generic high school romantic comedy (which makes it a safe choice for lighthearted anime viewers). Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of predictable plotlines and if I were to watch an anime solely based on production values and seiyuus, this would still not pass the test. As a result, I could probably pick up the first and last episode and understand the gist of the story. Based on personal preference, I’ll be passing up on this one, but my fellow co-writers may be watching/blogging it. Even the comedic scenes will not be enough to carry the series for me and I’ll be looking elsewhere for my seasonal dose of romance…by possibly re-watching Toradora!

Continuing their recent trend of moving beyond their traditional Action and Mecha genres, Sunrise is bringing us a new original series that is pure slice-of-life. “Summer-Colored Miracle” centers around four middle-school girls. There’s the cheerful tennis player Aizawa Natsumi (Kotobuki Minako), the perfect beauty Mizukoshi Saki (Takagaki Ayahi), the “mood-setter” who loves the idol group Four Seasons Hanaki Yuka (Tomatsu Haruka), and the calm and steady music lover Tamaki Rinko (Toyosaki Aki). The story follows these four friends as they hang out, go to school, run around town, and enjoy their youths. That is, until one summer, when a “miracle” happens.

Sunrise is being pretty tight-lipped about this original work. The primary selling point is that it stars the four-person seiyuu group Sphere, who will also be singing its theme songs. That’s all well and good, but as far as a basis for a whole series, it’s not much to go on. Yet as I look deeper, it’s looking like there may be more to this show than there originally seemed. Director Mizushima Seiji (Gundam 00, UN-GO, the first Fullmetal Alchemist) isn’t a name I recognized off the top of my head, but his resume is full of good (and occasionally great) works. Perhaps more encouraging is the man in charge of the series composition, Tatsuhiko Urahata (Saki, A-Channel, Ichigo 100%), and sound director Hiromi Kikuta (Black Rock Shooter, Kannagi, the Da Capo series), both of whom have worked on a lot of really great series. The art is also quite nice, with Hidari (Fractale), Tanaka Yuuichi (Toaru Majutsu no Index, Toaru Kagaku no Railgun), and Ikeda Shigemi (Afro Samurai, High School DxD) working together to give us a town full of idyllic charm and some cute characters to run around it. More than anything though, it’s this “wonder” that caught my attention (check out the videos below to see what I mean). Here’s the bottom line: if you’re a slice-of-life fan, give this one a shot. If not, consider it anyway. In an industry full of endless adaptations, Sunrise is bringing us something original. And who knows, it just might be fantastic.

FROGMAN (alias for Ono Akira), director and voice actor for all of the main characters, continues the story of Eagle Talon where your stereotypical evil organization trying to conquer the world. However, failure always seems to await the organization, whether it’s in malfunctioning monster-making machines, Deluxe Fighter foiling their plans, or making time to take a girl’s father to the hospital.

After watching a handful of subtitled episodes from last season, I actually found that this series is pretty funny for its absurdist elements. How much more ridiculous can you get with self-righting water glasses and monstrous human dressers? This season looks like it won’t be any less absurd, as “Chancellor” Soutou arises again from hitting hobo rock bottom (in a dramatically over-the-top manner of course), along with his trusty henchman Yoshida, side-henchman Phillip, and sensitive-that-he’s-a-bear (???) mad scientist Doc Leonardo. If you enjoyed shows such as >Thermae Romae and Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, this flash series ONA should be right up your alley. Most, if not all of the work to make this series is done by FROGMAN, so it’s nice to see amateur work being displayed, especially one with good humor running for its third season.

The first of two Kawahara Reki light novels to be adapted (summer 2012′s Sword Art Online being the other), Accel World is an adaptation of his 2008 Dengeki Novel Grand Prize winning light novel series. In 2040, the Internet has evolved to a point where everyone uses neuro-interfaces to interact inside virtual worlds and the main character, Arita Haruyuki (Kaji Yuki), spends his time setting record virtual squash scores inside his school network’s virtual world in order escape from the harsh realities of the real world. One fateful day, his skills are recognized by Kuroyukihime (Misawa Sachika), the beautiful Student Council Vice-President, and she offers him the ability to slow time in the real world to a near standstill by using software called Brain Burst, which accelerates a person’s brainwaves. However, such an ability never comes for free as Haruyuki discovers when he is drawn into a new virtual world where he must fight other Brain Burst users in order to continue using the software. For Kuroyukihime’s help, he agrees to protect her so she can meet Brain Burst’s creator and learn of its true purpose.

From the premise itself, this series does appear to share many similarities with Guilty Crown: both protagonists have low self-esteem and share the same seiyuu, both heroines wear similar dresses and change the hero’s life forever by giving them a new power and introducing them to a new world. However, don’t let these parallels dissuade you from giving Accel World a chance, because unlike Guilty Crown, the series doesn’t take itself too seriously and the focus is more on the fights between the Brain Burst users rather than end-of-the-world machinations. With Sunrise’s capable hands at the helm, the action should be well animated and creatively choreographed, befitting the virtual world setting. So if you’re looking for shounen-esque action along with a dash of romance, school life, and comedy, this might be the series for you.

One day in Jewel Town, Jewel Land, the clumsy and cheerful Deco-loving Ruby (Saitou Ayaka) learns of the legendary “Mirror Ball” scattered around the world. Meanwhile, the Kira Deco Five descend from the skies and arrive in Jewel Land in search for the legendary Deco Stone… all to save the world from Eternal Darkness?!

Is it… bad that I’m morbidly interested in this? And that I would sit through however many episodes to hear Ono Daisuke (unsurprisingly) voice what looks to be the obligatory Prince Charming of this show? Whatever others may say, come at me with your overload of sickeningly sweet pink Jewelpets – I’ll take you on!

Fans of Bakugan Battle Brawlers rejoice, because the series is back to coincide with SEGA’s new toy release. Heroic warriors, risking life and limb, are trying to collect the three Gate Cards to obtain victory – but in order to do so, they must do battle with the monsters summoned from the power within their cards!

There was once a time when you too, watched Yu-Gi-Oh!-like shows, so if you’re itching for more card monster-based action, or are looking to reminisce about what you watched when you were younger, you probably won’t be disappointed with this modern version. It’s probably in HD too, and there are new toys to buy and play with! What more could a kid nowadays ask for…

The Nadeshiko won the World Cup, and soccer anime seems to be having a renaissance in Japan. This one is based on the novel Ginga no World Cup by Kawabata Hiroto. The story follows young Shuu (Kobayashi Yuu – not a favorite of mine in male roles), whose middle-school football team was disbanded for lack of players. However, he’s inspired to bring it back after (fittingly) meeting the female professional player Erika (Nakatsu Mariko).

I haven’t found a translation of this anywhere, so I can’t vouch for the source material. I have a certain fondness for sports shounen, though this one appears to be pitched at a somewhat younger audience than Kuroko no Basuke. However, director Uda Konosuke has a solid track record and writer Yamada Takashi has worked in an intriguing mix of genres. This may end up being nothing more than an inoffensive kids series, but I sense it could end up surprising a few people.

Coming only a week after the end of its predecessor’s 51-episode (!) run, here’s the second season of the Pretty Rhythm series. Based on Takara Tomy’s arcade game targeted at young girls, the series is about fashionable super-idols who sing, dance, and skate in the popular program known as the Prism Show. This season picks up three years after the events of the first one, with the original three heroines now all grown up and tutoring a new group of aspiring Prism Stars: Karin, Reina, Mia, and Ayami, who together form the group known as Prizmmy☆. But they have some serious competition this time in the form of a five-girl rival group out of Korea.

I checked out a bit of the first season, and it really wasn’t that bad. The animation was respectable, with expressive faces and cute character designs, though they did tend to abruptly switch to CG whenever the characters start dancing or skating, which I’ve always found to be jarring. The music was good as well, in a light-and-fluffy JPop way. In fact, the whole feel of the show reminded me of some of the cartoons I watched as a kid, just with the action and fist-fights replaced with fashion and skating. That’s the thing though: when I was a kid. The first season looked like it was done well, and I would expect more of the same from a second season, but this is still a show targeted at teenage girls. If that’s you, or you really love cute clothes and cutesy singing, this might be right up your alley. Personally, I’m so far outside of the target audience that I’d need a Mars lander to find it, so I’ll be sitting this one out.

This ONA follows the students of Seishou Academy, a school where every student is a pro-level shooter, and every lesson is about guns. Why? Because every student is a gun. Follow the hijinks of FNC (Nomizu Iori) and her friends M16A4 (Togasi Misuzu), L85A1 (Misato), and SG550 (Sadohara Kaori) as they work to become the very best guns they can be…when they’re not slacking off from classes, getting shot at by their sempais, or hospitalizing the new teacher.

The premise behind this show is rather silly. Aside from the new (so far nameless) Modern Lit teacher, all the students and teachers are guns, who shoot guns. They shoot…themselves? That said, despite the strange premise the manga wasn’t really that weird. Upotte is basically a comedy about four friends’ school life with the occasional gun battle thrown in. Personally, I wasn’t especially taken with the manga – the jokes were serviceable, but nothing that hasn’t been done better many times before. I’m also curious with what direction Xebec will take this. The promotional material shows they’ve already swapped in their signature fanservice art style (Kanokon, Ladies versus Butlers!), but those comparisons don’t feel right since there’s very little ecchi about this story. Director Kato Takao (Busou Renkin, Pandora Hearts) and writer Arakawa Naruhisa (Papa no Iu Koto wo Kikinasai!, Yosuga no Sora) have long resumes, but they’re mostly full of shows I don’t recognize, so I’m not sure what to think there. If you think you’d enjoy a light comedy with plenty of gun-related exposition, this might be the show for you. I’m not personally sold quite yet, but I’ll be checking out an episode or two, just to give it a chance.

Here’s the show many of you have been waiting for: the second half of Uroboshi Gen’s (Madoka Magica) prequel to Fate/stay night, Fate/Zero 2nd Season. In case you missed the first one, here’s the breakdown: taking place ten years prior to the original story, Fate/Zero tells the tale of Emiya Kiritsugu (Koyama Rikiya) and Saber’s (Kawasumi Ayako) battles during the Fourth Holy Grail War. Hired by the Einzbern family to claim the legendary wish-granting Grail, Kiritsugu will use every underhanded tactic at his disposal in order to win, but to claim the prize he must defeat the other six masters and the heroic spirits they have summoned. Among those is Kotomine Kirei (Nakata Jouji), an aimless magician-priest who is grappling with his purpose in life. Unfortunately, he may have found it in opposing the cold-hearted Kiritsugu, putting the two men on a bloody collision course.

Fate/Zero was easily the most anticipated series of last fall, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that it has claimed that honor once again, and for good reason. Everything that was done well in Fate/stay night has been dialed up to 11 for this prequel. Where before the mood was dark, now it’s darker; where before the masters were overwhelmed kids, now they’re ruthless, cutthroat adults; where before the battles were good, now they’re lovingly animated to near movie-level quality. I won’t say this show isn’t without its problems, and of course it’s a prequel, so we all pretty much know how it’s going to end. Yet sometimes it’s the journey that matters, and the journey we saw during the first season was truly a sight to behold. Personally, I know I’ve been waiting for this show to return since the second the last episode faded to black. We may know how it will end, but I have faith that Urobuchi Gen and Ufotable will make it a fun ride getting there. Plus, there’s always Iskander to look forward to, and I don’t know about you, but I can always use more Iskander in my life.

Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Boy becomes addicted to girl’s saliva. It may sound like a strange fetish, but Mysterious Girlfriend X really is an honest love story at heart in most aspects, if not a bit quirky (okay, it’s very quirky). The set-up is pretty ordinary: Tsubaki Akira, a very average male protagonist, meets cute transfer student Urabe Mikoto. Normal ends there however, as it is immediately apparent that Mikoto is an odd girl: she sleeps a lot, is anti-social, and expresses emotions through her saliva. She also happens to carry around a pair of scissors tucked in her panties, which she wields with incredible skill. Akira and Mikoto waste no time waffling around, as he forms a “drool bond” with Mikoto after inadvertently tasting her saliva and declares his love for her. And so, their bizarre relationship begins, complete with regular saliva exchanges and Mikoto declaring that they will have their first sexual experience with each other.

The premise may be weird and the art style retro, but “Mysterious Girlfriend X” is shaping up to be among the most promising romances this season. While the male protagonist is a little bland, the heroine can rival Senjougahara Hitagi of Bakemonogatari in pretty much every way, which results in all sorts of interesting situations. Watching their unique relationship develop should be quite a fun ride, revolving around the special bond they share and their ability to transfer emotions through saliva. Mikoto will be voiced by Yoshitani Ayako in what seems to be her debut seiyuu role, but judging from what I’ve seen in the PV, her voice is perfect for Mikoto, even if it’s not exactly what I expected. I’m also looking forward to seeing the supporting characters, including another couple who also share an interesting relationship. In general there’s a little bit of ecchi and straight-up discussion of sex, but all in all, if you’re looking for a decent seinen romance, this series is a pretty good bet.

In the game of basketball, being anything but a leading scorer or a starter is short of glamorous, which can be said for most sports. What we all seem to forget is that teams need other players as well. Ones that can coordinate the team or someone who can be unselfish. Kuroko Tetsuya (Ono Kensho) is that player. He hails from a championship middle school basketball team where he served as a sixth man, and now in high school, meets Kagami Taiga (Ono Yuuki), a naturally talented guy who only wants to be the best. Together, they vow to become the best in Japan and take down members of Kuroko’s old team who all went to different high schools.

I’m not one to watch many shounen or sports shows, with the only major sports one being Cross Game and I didn’t even watch that for the sports aspect. Nevertheless, from what I’ve seen from the 3 chapters of manga that I’ve read, it still seems like it will become an interesting show. Much of the comedy that I saw came from the deadpan delivery from Tetsuya. If he can be half as funny as Yuu from Persona 4 the ANIMATION, this could become quite the hit with some anime fans.

Wanting to test his own strength and become the champion, aspiring Blader Kurogane Zero (Okamoto Nobuhiko) arrives at Hagane Gingka’s hometown in order to challenge him. But instead of Gingka, who is nowhere to be found, Zero finds that pro-Bladers have gathered to compete for the title of ‘Strongest Blader’. Immediately, he challenges them but it proves to be a tough match with the new Zero Stadium system that has taken the world by storm. Fortunately with intuition and sheer determination, Zero he’s able to turn the game around and emerge victorious.
Who else will stand in the way of Zero’s goal?!

Wow, Beyblade. I haven’t kept up with the series since G-Revolution, so I have no idea how the story has been progressing. The couple episodes I caught here and there of Zero-G’s prequel was um… interesting, and unfortunately, without the charm of the original cast missing in the recent incarnations, I’ll probably go back to not keeping up with it.

With the first Cardfight!! Vanguard series ending, the second one takes over. This sequel will center around the same old cast: Sendou Aichi (Yonaga Tsubasa), Kai Toshiki (Satou Takuya), Tokura Misaki (Kitta Izumi), and Katsuragi Kamui (Ishikawa Shizuka), who have all grown up but are still involved in the same struggle as the old series. The premise remains, focusing on the card battle game called Vanguard – a game that takes place on a planet called “Cray”.

This show is the result of a collaboration between Yu-Gi-Oh! R‘s Itou Akira and Duel Masters‘ Nakamura Satoshi. Both shows were targeted towards a younger audience, but I’m pretty sure most of us have seen Yu-Gi-Oh. It’s a part of childhood, no? The “game” concept is a very popular one nowadays, as seen on many international cartoon channels and this show is no exception. Unfortunately, this is not something that appeals to me anymore but it does make me feel nostalgic.

Sunrise brings us the second season of last year’s puzzle show, Phi Brain. Like last season, this will center on high school student Daimon Kaito (Asanuma Shintarou) and his circle of friends: Itou Nonoha (Shimizu Kaori), Sakanoue Gammon (Fukuyama Jun), Cubic Galois (Miyata Kouki), and Anna Gram (Yukino Satsuki) – people risking their lives to solve puzzles created by the mysterious organization POG. The only help Kaito is offered (besides his brain and his friends’ ideas) is the Orpheus bracelet, a mysterious device that maximizes Kaito’s puzzle-solving abilities.

I remember I first thought this would be interesting, but after I’d seen the first five episodes of the first season, I dropped it. I can’t say much as I’m not a fan of this, but I guess it’s a good thing that the Phi Brain fans don’t have to wait at all because this airs one week after the first season ends! Something else you might look forward to is the introduction of some new characters that have been added to this sequel: Freecell (Kamiya Hiroshi), Pinochle (Sugita Tomokazu), Doubt (Ono Daisuke), Melancholy (Saitou Momoko), Mizerka (Hikasa Youko), and Whist (Konishi Katsuyuki).

Oonuma Shin, best known for directing the anime adaptions of Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two, tackles the ongoing manga Tasogare Otome x Amnesia and brings us its anime adaption this spring season. Like most of the shows he directed, this one too, takes place in a school: Seikyou Private School, a facility that seems more like a maze than anything. The mysterious aura of the building serves as the reason behind many of the paranormal rumors. One day, first-year middle school student Teiichi Niiya (Yonaga Tsubasa) gets lost in this maze, and by chance arrives at an old storage room. There he meets Yuuko Kanoe (Hara Yumi), a mysterious girl with beautiful long black hair who claims to be a ghost. For some unknown reason, only Niiya can see her as a girl with amnesia. Curious about Kanoe, Niiya starts a paranormal investigation club in order to find out how she died, along with various other supernatural mysteries surrounding the school.

I’m a big fan of supernatural mystery shows so this will definitely be on my watch-list. Knowing that Oonuma Shin is directing makes the show even more interesting, as I’ve come to like all of the works that I’ve seen from him. I was a bit sad over the fact that Another was reaching its end, but knowing that another show with similar elements will air this season, immediately brightened my mood. As for animation, I’ve never seen anything produced by SILVER LINK so I don’t know what to expect, but I can say one thing for sure, I expect good story development out of this. I can confidently say that this is one of my most anticipated shows of the season.

“Lolis playing mahjong” is probably the best phrase to describe Saki and its spin-off manga Saki Achiga-hen episode of side-A, the latter of which is now also being adapted into an anime. Instead of featuring Saki, the series’ titular character, this spin-off will chronicle the story of several girls at the Achiga Girls Academy and their goal to restart the mahjong club in order to eventually go to the national inter-high school tournament. They are mentored by former pro Akado Harue (Shindo Naomi) and hope to eventually meet an old friend at the nationals.

Reading the first few chapters of Saki Achiga-hen reveals a fast pace, containing more drama and slice-of-life rather than actual mahjong. It covers a relatively long time frame within a few chapters, with not too many details given in general. From what I’ve read, there are only brief scenes where mahjong is actually played, and little strategy/discussion of the game. It reminds me a lot of A-channel (also produced by Studio Gokumi), and not only that, both Yuuki Aoi and Uchiyama Yumi from A-channel will be voicing the main roles here as well. I don’t want to write it off just yet, but initial impressions lead me to think that it’s another rehash of the cute girls doing cute things genre. That’s fine if you know what you’re getting into, but if you are looking more for mahjong gameplay or intense showdowns, I personally found the original Saki to probably be a better choice. Both have their share of light fanservice, yuri undertones and humor, but this spin-off seems to lean more heavily on “seinen moe” slice-of-life, rather than shounen sports (e.g. Hikaru no Go). Notably absent is the presence of a “sleeper player” hiding incredible strength that the other characters fear — a role filled by Saki herself in the original.

Lupin the Third is a long-running series and spring 2012 brings about yet another spin-off to add to the impressive array of TV shows, films and specials. Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna will feature the titular Mine Fujiko (Sawashiro Miyuki), Lupin (Kurita Kanichi reprising his role) and the rest of the cast during their ‘younger days’. The show will also reportedly aim to capture some of the original series’ ‘sensuality’, so I suppose that is something to look forward to with this adaptation.

I’ve heard of the Lupin series but never followed it, so it’s unlikely I’ll follow the newest entry to the franchise. The promo does look stunning however, with lovely visuals and a classy sort of sexiness that’s reminiscent of (g)olden days. If that’s the sort of ‘sensuality’ the producers are aiming for, with adequate pacing, Lupin the Third: Fujiko Mine to Iu Onna could be not only be a standout show, but a formidable entry into the infamous franchise.

This series is based on the Cthulhu mythos, so that aspect should be interesting, but unfortunately I haven’t actually read any of the light novels so I don’t really know what the exact plot entails. This anime follows Yasaka Mahiro (Kitamura Eri) who is a normal boy and Nyaruko (Asumi Kana) who is a Cthulu deity that has no form (whatever she turned into in the previous anime was censored) but can tranform into a girl. Judging from what I’ve seen previously, the show has more of a slice-of-life focus than an overarching plot.

I watched the TV series last winter and finished off the ONA shortly after that. The flash animation left me feeling short-changed because the ED was traditionally animated and the episode length was unfortunately much too short. Despite its issues, I quickly came to like this franchise for all the slapstick humor, parodies, and references to pop culture. Now that Hairyore! Nyaruko-san is getting a proper run, it is probably the anime I’m most excited about to watch this spring because there will be more of it.

Takahashi Keitaro‘s manga is a dark ride. It’s the story of child soldier Jonah (Tamura Mutsumi) who joins a group of arms merchants led by the charismatic Koko (Itou Shizuka). I’ve read the manga, and this is a pretty unique premise – not much that happens will meet your expectations, and the cast, while larger than life, definitely falls under the umbrella of anti-heroes more than traditional protagonists.

It’s been far too long of a wait for director Watanabe Shinichiro (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) to be reunited with the composer for Cowboy Bebop, Kanno Yoko (Aquarion EVOL, Macross Frontier). Fourteen years later, the duo is tackling the adaptation of Kodama Yuki’s coming of age manga about two young men’s friendship, and their bonding over a mutual passion for jazz music beginning in the summer of 1966. Nishimi Kaoru (Kimura Ryouhei) is a bespectacled intelligent young man who moves from Yokosuka to Kyushu during his first year in high school, but because he has been moving around for so much of his life and is quite introverted, he’s never been able to make lasting friendships… until he meets Kawabuchi Sentaro (Hosoya Yoshimasa), who is his exact opposite in personality. With Kaoru on the piano and Sentaro on the drums, the pair are eventually joined by some fellow classmates as together, they discover friendships, love, and most importantly, themselves – all through the universal language of music.

To me, the pedigree of a series is never an important factor as there are too many other unseen influences that can affect the quality of it, but Sakamichi no Apollon is one of the few exceptions. With a legendary director and an equally legendary composer, this series definitely has lofty expectations, but thankfully the manga and its accolades suggest the source material is a perfect fit for the two. Once you get past a bit of the yaoi vibes in the first few parts of the series, the friendship and especially the musical aspects pick up quickly and it becomes a show that will likely appeal to both male and female fans. Topping it all off are the promises of jazz standards being performed by up-and-coming musicians, so even if you’re not too keen on the idea of a male bonding slice-of-life series, any music lover owes it to themselves to tune in and enjoy this once in a decade show.

Along with Sakamichi no Apollon, Tsuritama gives me hope than NoitaminA can return from its weakest season ever. It’s the story of four high-school boys (Irino Miyu, Sugita Tomokazu, Uchiyama Kouki, Ohsaka Ryouta) residing in the island city of Enoshima. One of the boys, Haru (Miyu) fancies himself an alien, lending a sci-fi tinge to affairs. In addition to the fantastical slice-of-life, there seems to be a strong ecological bent as well.

The most important thing to know about this series is that it’s directed by Nakamura Kenji, who’s had fine fortune in NoitaminA before with Mononoke, and not so fine with C. He’s a talented guy with an offbeat sensibility, and this appears to be gentler and more wistful than we’re used to with him. It’s nice to see a slice-of-life series about guys for a change, too. Cenceroll director Uki Atsuya provides the character designs.

BONES revives what is arguably its signature property, and let’s hope they do it more successfully than Gonzo did with Last Exile. Eureka Seven was a big series for me as an anime fan — flawed and overcomplicated but compelling as seemingly all classic BONES series were. The A studio is working on this one, with director Tomoki Kyouda and most of the staff back, though the absence of writer Satou Dai is worrisome.

The first two manga chapters are out and I like them, though they don’t tell us much. We have a young lad, Ao, who’s apparently the son of Renton and Eureka, living in what appears to be current-day (or nearly) Okinawa. Kudos to BONES for casting a real live boy – 14 year-old Honjou Yuutaro – as Ao. There looks to be a harem aspect to this, as Ao will be surrounded by a cast of female mecha pilots. The only confirmed appearance from the original cast so far is the Nirvash. The fans are dismissing this one as a disaster before it even premieres, but I see no reason for such defeatism; I’m hoping this will be a multi-cour series that does the brand proud. If not, I’ll be almost as sad as I am about “Fam”.

Based on SEGA’s Shining Hearts RPG, this adaptation features an emotionless anmesiac girl named Kaguya (Kuwashima Houko) who washes ashore on Wyndaria after a storm. There she meets the swordsman Rick (Kamiya Hiroshi), and his three coworkers at the island’s bakery: the sisters Nellis, Amyl and Aerie (all voiced by Itou Kanae). Trouble starts brewing, however, as a sudden onslaught of pirates invade the island in search of Kaguya’s necklace. Wanting to restore peace to their island and restore Kaguya’s memories and emotions, Rick, Nellis, Amyl and Aerie set out on their adventure.

Here was my train of thought when I saw the preview image: pretty! Bread! It’s like SEGA knew exactly what I wanted! Obviously in the visual department – with renowned ecchi artist Tony Taka at the helm – Shining Hearts is nothing to scoff at. From what I can remember, the Shining Tears X Wind adaptation that aired a few years back didn’t look too bad either; considering this is Production I.G, I assume the animation will look good. The plot seems like standard RPG fare, but the cast is quite nice and fans will probably want to tune in to see how the adaptation pans out. I’m generally a little weary of putting ‘amnesia’, ‘emotionless’ and ‘female lead’ together in one sentence, but I’m a sucker for RPGs and the characters sound promising, at the very least. And with the capable Kuwashima Houko voicing her, maybe Kaguya won’t be so generic after all. Will definitely be checking it out!

Tenma Matsukaze (Yuka Terasaki), a soccer-loving first year, meets a boy and a robot bear from the future named Fei Ruun and Clark “Wandaba” Wandabatto respectively. However, as Matsukaze returns to Raimon Junior High School after the Holy Road tournaments, he finds that the world has changed for the worse. Alpha, a member of a rival soccer team, seeks to wipe soccer from Earth. Matsukaze must now use the Inazuma Caravan van to fix time and keep soccer alive!

Inazuma Eleven, originally a game from makers Level-5, now adds a time-traveling twist. If you are still following the series, here’s another series to continue Level-5′s adaption. However, as a third season, it will be hard for newcomers to catch up.

An anime produced by the amazing KyoAni?Count. Me. In! Seriously though, Hyouka sounds like another mystery anime that will fall on either end of the spectrum — really, really good or really, really bad. With director Takemoto Yasuhiro (who’s had a hand in all of KyoAni’s popular works), lead character designer Nishiya Futoshi, and a popular mystery series known as Kotenbu written by Yonezawa Honobu as its source material, this anime sounds like it has all the right ingredients to be successful.

But even with a good team and source material, what good is it if the story isn’t good enough to draw people in? Luckily, the premise of the show is simple enough and leaves a lot of room to build upon. Beginning when the shy Oreki Houtaro (Nakamura Yuuichi) decides to finally join a club after a bit of nudging by his older sister, he meets its three members: the perfect girl Chitanda Eru (Satou Satomi), who turns into a mystery maniac the moment something interests her; the amazingly smart Fukube Satoshi (Sakaguchi Daisuke) who can’t put two and two together; and the hot-headed Ibara Mayaka (Kayano Ai). With a nice variety of characters backed up with some impressive vocal talent, I can’t wait to get my hands all over this show.

The idol scene is nothing new in Japan, but there’s no doubt that the incredibly popular AKB48 is the reigning queen of Japanese girl groups. This group of over 48 members (currently 60) has had movies, TV dramas, and even dating sims featuring them, making it inevitable that they would eventually get an anime. When I first heard about the anime, I thought it was going to be an adaptation of the manga AKB49, which was a good series in its own right, but apparently that won’t be the case. Instead, this anime will follow an original storyline set in a futuristic, totalitarian society where pop music is banned and idols are illegal. AKB0048 rises up as a sort of supergalactic rebel idol group who put on guerilla concerts and resist the government.

I expected that members of AKB48 would be voicing their own characters in the anime adaptation, but instead, more experienced seiyuu will take the roles of the real life members. However the main cast –the nine members of the Kenkyuusei, or trainees– are voiced by actual members of AKB48 and its sister groups, selected in contests as is characteristic of them. The nine will be singing the theme song, though their voice acting abilities are yet to be seen. Several spin-off manga have also been released, but a quick skim reveals more slice of life and drama than sci-fi or mecha. However, Macross Frontier directors Kawamori Shouji and Hiraike Yoshimasa and studio Satelight will be heading this production, so seeing the girls engaging in high-tech battles will not be a surprise at all. AKB0048 will inevitably draw comparisons with Idolm@ster or Xenoglossia as well, and it does seem to share some similar elements. Many things point to a similar story format as AKB49, chronicling the trainees’ journey and struggles towards joining the senbatsu, with the added sci-fi twist and without the romance aspects that drew me into it originally. The premise doesn’t particularly impress me, and is probably more geared to existing AKB48 fans. I like their music, but I’m not set on watching this title aside from maybe the first episode or two.

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Promotional Video (2:13)

OVA / Movie

Technical Note: OVAs are sorted by the date they are released. For series that have multiple episodes coming out over the course of the season, please refer to the Notes column for additional dates. More information on each OVA can be found on their respective websites, including promotional videos in some cases. Movie premiere dates are not included since they don’t mean a whole lot to viewers outside of Japan. DVD/BD movie releases are however. This list is likely incomplete and will be updated as more titles surface. If you notice anything missing, please feel free to point it out in the comments.

Spring is probably looking like one of the stronger seasons in recent memory, and a great one for fans of all persuasions. With so many different genres covered, we’re lucky to have so many new writers and new tastes to cover as many shows as possible. Based on our early picks, it looks like the shows that will most likely be covered are Accel World, Eureka Seven AO, Fate/Zero 2nd Season, Hyouka, Jormungand, Saki Achiga-hen episode of side-A, Sakamichi no Apollon, Sankarea, Tsuritama, and Uchuu Kyoudai. Less likely to be covered, but still quite probable are Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, Hiiro no Kakera, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? OF THE DEAD, Mysterious Girlfriend X, Tasohare Otome x Amnesia, and ZETMAN.

If there’s a show you really want to see covered at RandomC, please let us know in the comments and we’ll take it into consideration. Below is the shortlist, broken down into days. (In one or more writers’ top 5 list; underline means guaranteed.)

Congratulations, you’ve made it to end of our first collaborative season preview! Thanks for reading and please don’t hesitate to leave us a comment if you have any suggestions, corrections, or questions.

Verdant’s note: Special thanks to all the writers for helping out with this preview on such short notice. I couldn’t have done it without you all, and now I owe everyone either several rounds of tasty beverages or food.

The fact that Saki Achiga-hen has our beloved diva Hanazawa Kana on its cast should attract significantly more attention of international viewers and therefore should have been mentioned in the preview imo.
Watch for Matsumi Kuro! And she is actually pretty good at mah-jongg too…

Already watched all 5 eps of Gakkatsu. It was a cute little series. Silly, but good for 5 minutes of entertainment.

As for the rest of the shows this season, it’s hard to tell what’s going to be good and what’s going to stink based on the previews. Some shows always surprise me in both ways, but so far Uchuu Kyoudai has that PlanetES feel to it, and I really liked both the PlanetES manga and the anime.

Otherwise, we’ll see, I guess.

My policy is to watch everything that sounds remotely interesting, give it the 3-episode test, and go from there. (Although some shows get shook out around 6 and even 9 eps…)

Also looking forward to the continuation of Moretsu Pirates from last season. Hooray for 2-cour shows that aren’t split-cour. I hate having to wait 3-9 months to see the rest of a series, although if that means that the next cour of “Horizon” will be even more awesome than the first, then I suppose I can wait until July. I may even finish one of the books by then. Ugh.

1.-Fate/Zero: Iskander, Saber and super awsome battles, need to say more?
2.-Accel World: Kawahara Reki has become my god since I started reading Sword art Online so this show might do it for until july comes.
3.-Misterious Girlfriend X: I´ve read all the manga so far, so belive when I say it´s quiet adictive.
4.-Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? OF THE DEAD: You can never go wrong with this insane serie and its even more insame characters.
5.-Eureka Seven Astral Ocean: I love the original one along with the movie so this could turn out as master piece to honor the original or a train wreck so bad you want ot killed everyone who made happen.
6.-Shining Hearts-Shiaswase no Pan: I love the characters desings by Tony Taka so I´m going to give it a chance as I did with Shining TearsxWind years ago; it didn´t dissapoint back then that´s for sure.
7.-Zetman: This what the world needs, more anime with decent violence, good story and awsome action.
8.-Jormungad: WHITE FOX is in charge, I don´t any other reason to watch this series.
9.-Hyouka: this is the most promising series of the season, I´m a sucker for novel adaptation and Kyoto Anomation in charge I´m onboard until the end.
10.-Tasogare Otome x Amnesia: I´ve a lot of the manga so this adaptation is just what i wanted to see.

Let´s hope my prayers are heared and this season turns out to be fantastic, but one thing is certain: I´m going to miss you Divine but I´ll stick with the blog until the end, this a great comunity.

Bleh the first half of the list made me disappointed.. Not many to my liking..
But the second half of the list looks more up to my alley..
will be watching accel world, upotte, natsuiro kiseki, acchi kocchi, zombie desu ka, kanojo X, shining hearts, maybe amnesia & sankarea but I read the manga so far already.. and maybe haiyore..

Not sure how much time I’ll have for anime this season as entering college has severely lessened my watching time. However, I will absolutely check out fate/zero, Hyouka, and Eureka Seven.
Sankarea, Natsuiro Kiseki, Accel World, Nazo no Kanojo X, Sakamichi no Apollon, and especially Tsuritama all look interesting as well.

You guys should really review Accel World, its just stunning (the graphics) and I’m really sure that there will be lots of character development on the main character. Its really creative and innovative as well.

After reading this season preview of the more than 40+ shows coming this spring anime season, these are the shows that garnered my attention and interest:

Overall I pick 23 shows but I will eventually narrow it done to 12-15 series.

1. Koiken! ~Watashi-tachi Anime ni Natchatta!~ – Romance/dating sim
2. Ozuma – sci-fi
3. Gakkatsu! – comedy
4. Uchuu Kyoudai – space, drama, sci-fi
5. Queen’s Blade Rebellion – (I’ll probably wait for the uncensored version like I did with the first 2 seasons).
6. Zetman – they say horror? nuff said.
7. Kuromajo-san ga Tooru!! – magical girl but very childish, nuff said.
8. Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? OF THE DEAD – not really impressed with the first season but count me in for this.
9. Medaka Box – I’m getting lot of hype from this, maybe I’ll try.
10. Sengoku Collection – action, history.
11. Sankarea – comedy, romance nuff said (Guaranteed).
12. Natsuiro Kiseki – slice of life by Sunrise? That should be interesting.
13. Accel World – now this is getting lots of hype with premise something like Guilty Crown, but I have more fate on Sunrise with their Code Geass than Production IG so this is GUARANTEED.
14. Upotte!! – everyone is a gun, no problem!
15. Fate Zero – Guaranteed nuff said.
16. Nazo no Kanojo X – fell in love because of her saliva?
17. Tasogare Otome x Amnesia – horror and mystery tag – nuff said.
18. Saki Achiga-hen episode of side-A – slice of like and mahjong, cute character designs.
19. Jormungand – they say its action, looks a bit more maturer series also.
20. Sakamichi no Apollon – this is another series that is getting lots of hype, but I’m not really a big fan of male driven slice of life-drama stories and add that music premise. If it’s mecha I’m ok, but I’m not sure of this, I’ll still try a few episodes.
21. Eureka Seven Astral Ocean – I didn’t try the original Eureka Seven because of many complaints of the lead male character’s tendency to act like Shinji Ikari(of Evangelion) which I don’t really like plus its 50 episode, just maybe I’ll try this series also.
22. Shining Hearts ~Shiawase no Pan – adventure, romance, and bread? That is interesting!
23. Hyouka – mystery they say and KyoAni? nuff said.

Still I will probably settle with 12-15 series because if I add more the more chance I have to drop a few shows along the way.

Not really. It’s pretty normal for people to watch that many.
I too watch around 12-15 shows per season. Right now for Spring, I have 18 shows that I want to watch, 5 I’m already watching.
And it’s possible. You just need to balance your time.

Well I am watching 12-15 series per season not included are the OVAs, movies, specials, ONAs that I watch since they are mostly one episode anyways. It’s not that hard to watch that many if you know how to balance your time on anime-work-social life.

Well if you know Divine, he’s like watching 20-30 series per season and have time to write blogs on about 8-10 then finding time for work and real life, isn’t that amazing?

Making the main character a fat-ugly-midget-whining loser: FINE BY ME. Not everyone looks like models with six-pack. It surely makes things a little different, having a downright loser as the main guy. Is that you, Cartman?

Some other clichés that I don’t have to mention here: again FINE BY ME. Just like the Hollywood sausage machine, these “maker” people clings onto these so called mainstream “success formula” like there’s no tomorrow. As long as the final product is good, I’m willing to let go most of these.

HOWEVER!! The one cliché I can’t let go here: drop-dead gorgeous women falling down themselves to have a go at the fat-ugly-midget-whining loser (aka FUMWL guy) FROM DAY 1. No real plot development for that, nah, just from the get go (Not even reasonable reason like maybe because the fat guy risked his life and saved her from her death or anything. Gah No~~~!) What the heck? The school’s most beautiful woman suddenly aggressively pursues the FUMWL guy (and we can ALL see where that is going from billions of miles away) for some trivial reasons AND the FUMWL guy ALSO happens to have a drop-dead gorgeous childhood friend who makes home-made lunch for you. Give me a freaking break. There is a limit to how much wiling suspension of disbelief can take us.

I do find some of the premises of this show (all that future invisible gadget stuff) have potential, but I just can’t get past that stupid sh@t.

I don’t know how you guys can look at Haruyuki’s appearance and see some fat, greasy, repulsive abomination (at least that’s what I’m getting from reading these comments) when he’s obviously not. Seriously, am I looking at the same character here or do you guys just have prejudice against fat people in general? To me, having a main character with this design is refreshing to see. He actually reminded me of Simon from Gurren Lagann which made me hope that he’d share the same voice actor, but I guess not.

They’re just bias. Haru is a definitely a badass in his own rights. Unlike Shu, who didn’t have to deal with bullies, he seeks and craves the power to escape being bullied everyday: To go faster until nobody can match his speed.

If your only hope is Medaka Box, you might as well give up looking for a show now. What, queen’s blade didn’t give enough ZZ cups for you? You can always go back and repeatedly watch Highshool DxD again.

Gintama, Girls Listen to me I am your Father, Naruto, Guilty Crown, High School DxD, Beelzebub, Fairy Tail, Gundam Age, Aquarion Evol I found interesting initially before even watching it. Only Guilty Crown disappointed me at times after watching it. Later I found Phi Brain not that bad also (not really that interesting but not bad). I never liked Queen’s blade. I watched 2 or 3 episodes when season 1 came out but I found it quite boring so I never bothered to watch the rest.

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